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Let a new pet steal your heart; wishing a colleague well

Valentine’s Day is approaching, and that means love is in the air. What better way to be a part of that trend than to find yourself a furry friend to love? I have had a variety of pets over the years. From hamsters to snakes and salamanders when I was small to a couple of dogs and numerous cats as I got older, I have been fortunate enough to care for and share my life with several different animals. On Feb. 8, Belmont County Cat Stray Shun and the county animal shelter will host an event at the Ohio Valley Mall where people can meet and share some love with some of the dogs and ...

Take a trip to ‘the mall’ and see what you find

I, like many people in Belmont County, grew up shopping at the Ohio Valley Mall. But the mall meant much more than just shopping — it was the place to be during my junior high and high school years. Even before that, it was an important destination for my family. The presence of the mall meant that we had a shorter trip to make when we needed to shop for school clothes or books or work shoes for my dad. When we visited the mall, I got to explore fascinating corners filled with magazines or exotic pets. For a time, a trip to the mall meant visiting my older brother, Larry, at his ...

Conquering the gap between ‘two Americas’

On Thursday, March 14, 1968, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at Grosse Pointe South High School in an affluent Detroit, Michigan suburb. The title of his talk was “The Other America.” It also said he gave the same title on April 14, 1967, at Stanford University. It is interesting that he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis. One was about a year before he died, and the other less than a month. Unfortunately, if Dr. King were still alive, he could very well give the same speech again today, some things are better, some are worse, and some are exactly the ...

Little projects can help pass time during winter

The winter chill and more snow than usual this January has kept me indoors more than I would like. As a result, I’ve been doing some projects that I might not otherwise have gotten around to addressing. Most recently, my husband, Mike, and I went through several boxes stored in a closet that we plan to freshen up. What did we find? All sorts of pieces of my childhood. The first nostalgic item I pulled from the shelf was a white satin pirate-style hat with a bright blue and sliver badge on it. I immediately recognized it. It was part of a uniform I wore to march with a baton in ...

Chasing away winter’s chill by caring for others

It’s been quite awhile since our region experienced so much January snowfall. I, for one, didn’t mind that particular drought. The continuous rounds of snow that we have experienced over the last week or so haven’t been unbearable, but they have certainly created some inconveniences. In addition to the usual traffic issues that result when the white stuff flies, the nearly constant precipitation has made it difficult to keep up with sidewalks, outdoor steps and street clearing. On top of keeping me and my husband, Mike, somewhat preoccupied with maintaining clear paths to our ...

How is YOUR economy vs. THE economy? What really matters

There is THE economy big picture and then there is YOUR personal economy. Before the last election we heard supposedly smart people in Washington, D.C., and New York City who make big money apparently don’t do the grocery shopping and call people like me stupid because we didn’t understand how great the economy was. They told us inflation is cooling off. When I did grocery shopping for our Christmas family gathering, I didn’t see it. Prices never go down as fast as they go up whether it is groceries or gasoline. Our personal economy (Are we working? Can we pay our bills?) is ...